This proposal pleased them is literally “And the word was good in their eyes.” This proposal may be rendered “What they proposed” or even “Their words.” The pronoun them refers to the “many” people of verse 11 that the Jewish renegades misled. Good News Bible does well to say “many people”; it brings the word “people” up from verse 13.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.